update and more info

But - sounds like you have a plan for your location, & sounds like it will be a fun beginning. :) Enjoy. :)

--->Paul

Second thing: time is PROBABLY on your side. Unless the real estate market is really hot in your area, you can afford to be choosey. You may find something better than either of your choices.

Regarding the appraisal on the first place: mobile homes and outbuildings take a beating in an appraisal. No doubt the seller of #1 owes more against the trailer than it is actually worth. Her hard-nosed position may be because she needs $165K to pay everthing off. It may be that sooner or later she will end up walking away from the property. But until it comes to that, she probably won't budge on the price.

Is the building on #1 really what you want? 30 x 12 is a pretty small building. If you are willing to do the work yourself, you can put up a nice 30 x 40 post frame building for under ten grand.

One last thing: If you are out west, water rights may be the single most important consideration if you are keeping horses.

Good luck.

In my area 10 acres located 10 miles from town can be bought for $20,000,maybe less.A new 32' by 80' mobile home can be bought for $60,000.

The place you descibed above wouldnt even come close to bringing $100,000 here.Low wages tend to hold prices down.

Whats odd is the price of bare land here is rising but the price of homes with little or no acreage is falling.

A neighbor has 40 acres for sale 5 miles from town with a 1970's 3 bedroom frame home,cattle shed,big pond,creek thru property,open pasture and timber,etc for sale for $139,000 and has sat on it for a long time.

steveormary

A couple other things to think on - A little over two years ago, I started a new job 30 miles from my house - the first 6 months, I didn't mind the 45 - 60 minute drive. Now, I am not so cheerful about the drive (if you catch my drift).

The first option might be better, depending on your requirements and your cash-flow. Is the 10A bare ground? If so, what are your basic facility requirements? Can you pencil-out the second place and still (with cushion) add the infrastructure that you want / need?

Like I said, food for thought.

Nathaniel

Whats the barn worth, both in dollars and usefulness to you?

All things being equal, the #2 appears better. What will land improvements be worth, well, septic, foundation, electric, etc? How deep is your water table and will the soil perc for a septic and leach field.

Are you dealing with a sales agent? That person should be explaining the time value of money.

Time is on your side, explain to #1 you will be by next month with the deal worth $500 less.

I passed on a property, had made an offer less than they were lookin for, seller came back 2 months later with my original offer, which I refused. Found a nicer deal, that made me alot more money.

Second rule is not every deal has to go through.

First rule, don't fall in love with a deal; if you
gotta have it, you will pay too much.

Try to think of the costs on the first place as education...